284 Proceedings of t lie Royal IrisJi. Academj/. 



Tarieties. In the Canary Islands, I found it commonly at Lagnna 

 and even higher in the island of Teneriffe ; and it has every appearance 

 of being indigenous there. 



j^o relationship between the amphibian fanna of the Atlantic 

 Islands and America is traceable; bnt, among the European Bnfonidse, 

 Biifo calamita is closely allied to B. variegatus of Chili. 



As regards the connections between the IS'ew World and Africa, 

 the family Deiidrobatidfc is entirely confined to Madagascar and 

 Tropical America ; while the tongiieless toads occur only on the 

 continent of Africa and in Tropical America. 



Fishes. 



The lliver-eel {AnguiUa fluviatilis) is the only species of 

 fish which has been observed in the fresh-waters of the Atlantic 

 Islands; so that no comparison of their fish -fauna with those of 

 America or Europe is possible. A few facts however might be stated 

 concerning the relationship of the American and African fish-faunas. 



According to Dr. Giinther (p. 232), two of the most natural 

 families of fishes, the Chromides and Characinida?, are peculiar and 

 (with the exception of Etropliesi) I'estricted to South America and 

 Africa. The Dipnoi inhabiting the same two continents are also very 

 nearly related to one another; and the Pimelodina, so characteristic of 

 tropical America, have three representatives in Africa. Yet, though 

 Dr. Giinther believes in the former union of Africa and South 

 America, he is of opinion that the separation is geologically of old 

 standing. 



Molluscs. 



The land and fresh-water Molluscs of the Atlantic Islands have 

 been studied by a number of careful observers, particularly by 

 Lowe and Wollaston. The latter published a most valuable work 

 entitled " Testacea atlantica," on the distribution of the Molluscs in 

 the various islands, which, for a long time to come, will remain the 

 standard treatise on the subject. 



After dwelling on the marked individuality of the island fauna, 

 he refers to the marvellous segregation of species in most of the 

 archipelagos, an overwhelming proportion of them being confined to 

 single islands, and not having colonized even their respective groups. 

 He also draws attention to the fact that the Mediteri-anean element is 

 much more traceable in the Canaries than in the other groups of 

 islands. Altogether, he believes that the Atlantic Islands have 



